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Lonely Planet: Travel disaster stories
Unpacked: Travel Disaster Stories
Every traveller has a horror story to lost luggage, bad weather, illness or worse. In this lively collection of travel disaster tales, Lonely Planet writers - Tony Wheeler among them - share their worst moments of life on the road. From Kenya to Sri Lanka, from Brazil to Finland, from the Australian outback to India, these travellers have encountered hurricanes, road accidents and nasty parasites. Suzanne Possehl finds there is life in the KGB yet, Tim Nollen discovers the kindness of strangers and Anthony Haywood survives a taxi ride through Siberia. Dani Valent walks away from a desert car crash, and Ryan Ver Berkmoes is stranded in the Arctic Circle. Reading these funny and frightening stories from the dark side of the road will make you think twice about a career as a travel writer, but the best thing about them is the knowledge that it all happened to somebody else. Jennifer Brewer, Bruce Cameron, Andrew Draffen, Jim DuFresne, Steve Fallon, Matt Fletcher, Susan Forsyth, Paul Greenway, Rosemary Hall, David Harcombe, Anthony Haywood, Mark Honan, Scott McNeely, John Mock, Tim Nollen, Randall Peffer, Suzanne Possehl, Nick Ray, Daniel Robinson, Miles Roddis, Chris Rowthorn, Dani Valent, Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Tony Wheeler, Brad Wong andPat Yale.
251 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 7, 2021
Travel guides give us information about what to expect when visiting a foreign land: with commentary on the sights, precincts of interest, what to eat and where to stay. Good guides also suggest what to enjoy and importantly what to avoid.
But what actually happens to the intrepid souls who undertake this research? Unpacked: Travel Disaster Stories is an interesting collection of stories from the hidden side of travel writing; the often unfortunate experiences of contributors as they report on their given countries.
These candid tales of arduous travel include a car crash, a charging elephant and a Tibetan monk who uses his head, literally, to crack Tony Wheeler’s windscreen when the Lonely Planet founder was Walking the Mount Kailash Circuit. Jim Dufresne pens a moving account of a lone kayaker dying in the white water of the Tatshenshini River in the Yukon. Having found the corpse on the river bank many kilometres from civilisation, the problem for Jim and his associates, is what to do with the body. To deal with brown bears potentially sniffing out the body, they wrap it in a tarp and hoist it up a tree. This seems sound, as brown bears do not climb trees. They just hoped there were no black bears about. Then there was the added problem of managing their clients who had paid a lot for their rafting adventure and were reluctant to be held up too long. The body was helicoptered out with only a day’s delay to the trip.
Because it resonated, my favourite account comes from Mark Honan, Travel in India – the Hard Way. Mark is an Englishman who lands in Mumbai at 2:00AM from London. Given his tight research schedule, he has no time for resting up so he hires a car and driver to go to Gujarat, 150 kilometres away. He is shown a rather small Mumbai taxi, which he thinks might be OK. Before leaving city limits this taxi is exchanged, under duress, for a white jeep, somewhat less comfortable, with a new driver and for more money. Mark then experiences bruising, jerky acceleration and sudden swerving as the driver, increasingly agitated, attempts risky passing manoeuvres on the crowded road, often on the opposite shoulder. The trip takes six hours.
I have travelled to India several times with my family, initially to meet up with my stepdaughter Zoe in the process of completing her (Australian) Social Work degree with a three month placement in Chennai and Kochi. To get to India from Australia requires two or three flights for around 27 hours. You can do it in one hop of 13 hours but you take your chances. On the first trip we arrived after midnight, weakened by lack of sleep, to be confronted with the noise, crowds, excitement, bright colours and the fragrance of India.
I briefly entertained the thought of driving in India as the car from Kochi International Airport to the Grand Hotel, Ernakulum, seemed to encounter little traffic. I thought: ‘I’ve got an International Drivers Licence and they drive on the correct side of the road’ (the left). However, as we got closer to our destination, the traffic became heavier, there were massive construction works along the middle of the road (they were building an elevated railway) and it became apparent that driving on the left was more a guideline than a requirement. I also became aware that Indians (especially tuk-tuk drivers), have a unique capacity to drive organically with minimal margins for error. Even so, the frequent sight of whole families aboard a motor bike or motor scooter is disturbing- father, mother, assorted children, with smaller ones on the handlebars - up to five of six souls hanging on with no helmets and sandals on feet if you are lucky. It is not a wonder to me that there are so many road accidents in India – the wonder is there aren’t more.
Because I am claustrophobic, during our Indian travels I sat next to the driver, with the rest of the family squashed in the back. So I had a terrifyingly full view of the oncoming traffic. There were several occasions when I hoped my life insurance was paid up. Then I thought it won’t matter because we’ll all be killed by the giant brown truck bearing down on us, on the wrong side of the road. On another occasion, returning to Delhi after visiting the Taj Mahal we had to constantly engage the driver in conversation to stop him falling asleep. That was a long three hours. We later learned the toll road we drove on had been recently constructed, cutting the trip in half. It used to be six hours.
This type of experience is captured eloquently in Mark Honan’s account, with the religious tokens in the vehicles, the driver habit of sitting on the horn with one arm and the other on the steering wheel, and the suicidal passing manoeuvres on appalling roads. One thing we did not do was travel by train, but Honan did: he describes crowds surging towards an already over packed carriage, in stifling heat. His spectacles were a predictable casualty. He has a big pack on his back, and a small one in front. The train is going at a funereal pace. Many hands around him push the big pack up so he had to carry it all the way in his arms. But he has no problem standing up because of the press of bodies around him. No matter that he is leaning at an angle of 10 degrees. Just as well he is not claustrophobic.
But what actually happens to the intrepid souls who undertake this research? Unpacked: Travel Disaster Stories is an interesting collection of stories from the hidden side of travel writing; the often unfortunate experiences of contributors as they report on their given countries.
These candid tales of arduous travel include a car crash, a charging elephant and a Tibetan monk who uses his head, literally, to crack Tony Wheeler’s windscreen when the Lonely Planet founder was Walking the Mount Kailash Circuit. Jim Dufresne pens a moving account of a lone kayaker dying in the white water of the Tatshenshini River in the Yukon. Having found the corpse on the river bank many kilometres from civilisation, the problem for Jim and his associates, is what to do with the body. To deal with brown bears potentially sniffing out the body, they wrap it in a tarp and hoist it up a tree. This seems sound, as brown bears do not climb trees. They just hoped there were no black bears about. Then there was the added problem of managing their clients who had paid a lot for their rafting adventure and were reluctant to be held up too long. The body was helicoptered out with only a day’s delay to the trip.
Because it resonated, my favourite account comes from Mark Honan, Travel in India – the Hard Way. Mark is an Englishman who lands in Mumbai at 2:00AM from London. Given his tight research schedule, he has no time for resting up so he hires a car and driver to go to Gujarat, 150 kilometres away. He is shown a rather small Mumbai taxi, which he thinks might be OK. Before leaving city limits this taxi is exchanged, under duress, for a white jeep, somewhat less comfortable, with a new driver and for more money. Mark then experiences bruising, jerky acceleration and sudden swerving as the driver, increasingly agitated, attempts risky passing manoeuvres on the crowded road, often on the opposite shoulder. The trip takes six hours.
I have travelled to India several times with my family, initially to meet up with my stepdaughter Zoe in the process of completing her (Australian) Social Work degree with a three month placement in Chennai and Kochi. To get to India from Australia requires two or three flights for around 27 hours. You can do it in one hop of 13 hours but you take your chances. On the first trip we arrived after midnight, weakened by lack of sleep, to be confronted with the noise, crowds, excitement, bright colours and the fragrance of India.
I briefly entertained the thought of driving in India as the car from Kochi International Airport to the Grand Hotel, Ernakulum, seemed to encounter little traffic. I thought: ‘I’ve got an International Drivers Licence and they drive on the correct side of the road’ (the left). However, as we got closer to our destination, the traffic became heavier, there were massive construction works along the middle of the road (they were building an elevated railway) and it became apparent that driving on the left was more a guideline than a requirement. I also became aware that Indians (especially tuk-tuk drivers), have a unique capacity to drive organically with minimal margins for error. Even so, the frequent sight of whole families aboard a motor bike or motor scooter is disturbing- father, mother, assorted children, with smaller ones on the handlebars - up to five of six souls hanging on with no helmets and sandals on feet if you are lucky. It is not a wonder to me that there are so many road accidents in India – the wonder is there aren’t more.
Because I am claustrophobic, during our Indian travels I sat next to the driver, with the rest of the family squashed in the back. So I had a terrifyingly full view of the oncoming traffic. There were several occasions when I hoped my life insurance was paid up. Then I thought it won’t matter because we’ll all be killed by the giant brown truck bearing down on us, on the wrong side of the road. On another occasion, returning to Delhi after visiting the Taj Mahal we had to constantly engage the driver in conversation to stop him falling asleep. That was a long three hours. We later learned the toll road we drove on had been recently constructed, cutting the trip in half. It used to be six hours.
This type of experience is captured eloquently in Mark Honan’s account, with the religious tokens in the vehicles, the driver habit of sitting on the horn with one arm and the other on the steering wheel, and the suicidal passing manoeuvres on appalling roads. One thing we did not do was travel by train, but Honan did: he describes crowds surging towards an already over packed carriage, in stifling heat. His spectacles were a predictable casualty. He has a big pack on his back, and a small one in front. The train is going at a funereal pace. Many hands around him push the big pack up so he had to carry it all the way in his arms. But he has no problem standing up because of the press of bodies around him. No matter that he is leaning at an angle of 10 degrees. Just as well he is not claustrophobic.
March 20, 2017
Travel is all about adventures and this book certainly has many. Some of the stories are much better than others so the whole book is a bit hit and miss. It took me a while to get through but all in all I enjoyed it.
July 18, 2007
LONELY PLANET UNPACKED, one of the first in LP's line of Journeys travel stories, is a collection of reminisces by twenty-six Lonely Planet travel guide writers about disastrous experiences on the road, from getting robbed to waking up with a scabies infection in a bed and breakfast. The idea may sound interesting, but the book isn't much fun at all.
The first thing that hits the reader is the low level of much of the prose. While these travel guide writers may be experts at compiling a useful list of monuments, restaurants, and hotels, but many are not very good story-tellers. Ironically, the more interesting tales are written incoherently or repetitively, while some of the most insubstantial are penned with literary flair.
And this reviewer also seconds reviewers who have pointed out that the authors seem overwhelmingly concerned with getting drunk or--in the case of one contributor about Cambodia--completely stoned. It's understandable that a traveller might have some rage against a nation after a bad experience, but few of the writers were seeking much contact with the local people before their unpleasant turn of events. They jaded go through a country to add another one to the list and write a book, but they ignore the language and common people, spending a lot of time in bars for tourists and ex-pats.
I can't really recommend this book at all. If you are an independent traveller, think about how far the cover price of this book would get you towards your own (hopefully more sunny) adventures.
The first thing that hits the reader is the low level of much of the prose. While these travel guide writers may be experts at compiling a useful list of monuments, restaurants, and hotels, but many are not very good story-tellers. Ironically, the more interesting tales are written incoherently or repetitively, while some of the most insubstantial are penned with literary flair.
And this reviewer also seconds reviewers who have pointed out that the authors seem overwhelmingly concerned with getting drunk or--in the case of one contributor about Cambodia--completely stoned. It's understandable that a traveller might have some rage against a nation after a bad experience, but few of the writers were seeking much contact with the local people before their unpleasant turn of events. They jaded go through a country to add another one to the list and write a book, but they ignore the language and common people, spending a lot of time in bars for tourists and ex-pats.
I can't really recommend this book at all. If you are an independent traveller, think about how far the cover price of this book would get you towards your own (hopefully more sunny) adventures.
April 20, 2015
I picked this book up from an airport many years ago so I'd have something to read on a flight, and I remember enjoying it immensely then, and on a reread, I still found it quite entertaining. A few of these stories seemed a bit dry, and I'm sure they'd be much improved if the author was telling them in a game of one-upmanship disaster stories that happens with fellow travelers.
The most dated thing about this book was not the lack of technology, but rather the mentions of traveling with the giant backpacks on backs with the almost-as-big daypacks on front. I doubt most travelers are still traveling with 80L+ of gear.
[I am rereading my old books and reviewing them as an adult.]
The most dated thing about this book was not the lack of technology, but rather the mentions of traveling with the giant backpacks on backs with the almost-as-big daypacks on front. I doubt most travelers are still traveling with 80L+ of gear.
[I am rereading my old books and reviewing them as an adult.]
August 13, 2012
More inconvenience stories here. Most of the stories have something go wrong but very few of the incidents approach being disasters. The writing varies, guidebook writers not always being great at full narrative. Some get a nice sense of place or character but not enough to bother reading this. Don't Shit in the Toilet was more successful, inconsistent as it was, with at least real disaster stories and writing with character. For all of the potential stories which must have happened to Lonely Planet authors, this was a disappointment.
October 1, 2008
This is a collection of disaster stories from writers for the Lonely Planet travel guide series. Some of the stories were interesting and captivating, but others just fell short. I learned that I never want to travel to any Russian territory or formally ruled country, nor to most of Asia. This book serves as a great jumping off point for other travel stories. I want to read more of what Lonely Planet has to offer. A short read; I read it in only 1 day.
April 14, 2012
I picked this book up off of my parents bookshelf. I enjoyed the short stories of misadventure. As I read I realized that although I liked reading about the Travel Writers' adventures, I had no desire to be able to tell some of these tales myself. I wish I were more adventurous, but alas, I like to keep my distance from the edge. But overall they were fun stories about how the unexpected can still have an upside.
May 2, 2008
There is nothing great about this book - I probably have as entertaining travel stories as some of them, but it is a fun and easy read and I really liked it. I think it's always interesting to read about travel adventures and new places. Also it's fun to dream that I could work for Lonely Planet some day...
September 15, 2015
Unpacked is a collection of travel experiences written by travel writers who work for Lonely Planet. The most interesting thing about this book is the essays take place in remote and unusual areas that it seems that few people actually travel to. The writing is stiff--clearly written by travel writers rather than essayists.
March 26, 2010
I never had the personal fortitude necessary to even think about a backpacking-type of holiday but it was interesting reading about the experiences of others...I still have no inclination to take any sort of a backpacker's holiday but at least I've had a bit of living vicariously now.
September 16, 2011
I've read a few of LP's books and I generally like them all, including this one. I love travel stories and used to dream of writing for LP and National Geographic, so these stories are great reading for me. If you like travel stories, read this.
August 14, 2015
Found and read it in a hostel while I was traveling. It's refreshing to know that even Lonely Planet contributors get some bad luck when traveling abroad! A couple of stories were hard to follow and awkwardly written, but most of them made me want to travel further and farther.
March 24, 2016
Eclectic mix of stories from all over the globe. All were concise and had a range of troubles in the far flung corners of the world. Many were specific to being a travel writer and the demands of deadlines, but was a fun, easy read for a person who enjoys pushing boundaries.
Currently reading
August 31, 2007I'm digging reading this one piecemeal. Esp good to take along road-tripping or sitting on the john; really any maximum adventure.
October 16, 2007
a few of the stories were good - but mostly the stories were pretty lame and it was just travel writers trying to be novelists and not doing a very good job
June 26, 2008
Fun, insightful, fascinating. These stories of Lonely Planet writers all over the world is the perfect armchair travelers book.
March 19, 2015
Things to look back on and laugh about, but tough going at the time.
May 8, 2009
Loved it! Great stuff from the Lonely Planet team
June 25, 2009
I read this in my backpacking days. Good fun although I'm pretty convinced that some of my many hair-raising experiences make these seem abit tame!
December 2, 2009
mostly lame... uneven writing, no beef
September 15, 2017
a collection of different travelogues, assorted as individual chapters. each one stands alone and can be read in short order - you can get your fix of travel writing quickly.
January 25, 2011
Fun read, but some of the stories fell flat,
January 3, 2012
I recommend for a fun look at other travellers tragedies and misadventures.
Read the full review at OurBookClub
Read the full review at OurBookClub
July 14, 2011
Travelling is great but it can all go wrong...
November 20, 2017
Short stories on travels. Somes are amusing, others are not.
Read
October 25, 2012Some stories more exciting than others but I love travel books!
July 28, 2013
A couple of the stories had me laughing uproariously. Others were either confusing or just sort of ...meh. But it is a fun read on a plane!
August 26, 2013
Quick, fun read of various Lonely Planet writers. The only one I really didn't like was Tony Wheeler's.
April 20, 2017
Most are the stories are interesting and travel-related, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews